NASA Climate Change Video Shows Just How Quickly The Earth Is Warming

“The ongoing long-term warming trend is clear."

A new NASA video visualizes the planet's surface temperatures since 1880 to show just how quickly our planet is warming. Last year was the hottest year ever recorded, breaking previous records set in 2015 and 2014.

One of Europe's biggest glaciers, the Great Aletsch, could almost vanish in the lifetimes of people born today because of climate change.

“We don’t expect record years every year, but the ongoing long-term warming trend is clear,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, in an article on NASA’s website.

Earth’s average surface temperature has risen about 1.1 degrees C since the 19th century, the agency said. Most of that warming has happened in the last 35 years.

“The ongoing long-term warming trend is clear."

El Niño, a phenomenon that can change weather patterns in the short-term, contributed to warmer weather in 2015 and the first few months of 2016. But researchers estimate that El Niño only raised the planet’s average temperature by 0.12 degrees C last year.

Climate change is already taking a significant toll on the planet, and Canada is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries, according to the David Suzuki Foundation.

While climate change is expected to make Canadian winters milder, it will also bring extreme storms, flooding, drought, destroyed animal habitats and intense summer heat.